Huffman & Company/Zimmer Development

Huffman & Company and Zimmer Development unveil a luxury student housing project.

By Kat Zeman, Senior Editor at Knighthouse Publishing

Forget about bunkbeds, communal bathrooms and shared closet space. Stadium Enclave is entirely different type of student housing facility. The amenity-studded campus with private bathrooms, walk-in closets and an enormous swimming pool with palm trees and cabanas resembles a resort.

Located in Tallahassee, Fla., the new luxury student housing development was designed for students that attend nearby Florida State University, Tallahassee Community College and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.

Consisting of 10 three-story buildings that house 185 units and more than 600 beds, the project broke ground in 2016 with phase one completed in August. Phase two, which entails adding another 165 units with 565 beds, is targeted for completion in fall of next year.

Stadium Enclave, a collaboration between Huffman & Company and Zimmer Development, gives luxury living a new meaning. Stadium Enclave offers fully-furnished one- to four-bedroom apartment units with amenities that rival some resorts.

In addition, each unit has a full kitchen with granite countertops, subway tile backsplashes and stainless-steel appliances including dishwasher, refrigerator, oven and stove. Students can also grill out in a courtyard.

“And we have an awesome and massive swimming pool that is one of the biggest in Tallahassee,” Zimmer says.

The resort-style, 4,000-square-foot swimming pool features an island and is peppered with palm trees, lounging chairs and veiled cabanas. The pool deck also has a 20-foot wide screen TV.

Other outdoor features include barbecue grills, a fire pit, indoor and outdoor bar and kitchen, a stylish clubhouse with a billiards table and flat screen TVs, game room, social lounge and tanning beds.

A Green Life

Stadium Enclave was designed with a penchant for outdoor living. The campus features a gameday pavilion, beach volleyball court, dog park, pocket parks and access to a number of walking/riding trails and a bikeshare program.

“We wanted it to be a greener and more millennial-focused project,” Zimmer says.

The project involved a partnership with the City of Tallahassee. Zimmer Development bought a city-owned, 2.64-acre property on the west end of Mosley Street to build Stadium Enclave which bookends the city’s revitalized Gaines Street District and Lake Bradford Road.

The project involved building a trailhead connection and extending the Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad State Trail that runs more than 20 miles from Florida’s capital city to the coastal community of St. Marks.

“We extended the trail to allow it to connect with the Florida State University campus,” Zimmer says. “In the end, the partnership with the city made the project better.”

Other outdoor amenities include an outdoor fitness center and yoga studio, which connects to the walking/biking path. That’s in addition to an indoor state-of-the-art, 24-hour fitness center with cardio equipment, free weights and Fitness on Demand options.

Stadium Enclave also offers students individual study rooms, group study rooms, a study lounge with individual chaise study lounge chairs, PC and Apple computer lab with printers and a 24-hour coffee bar. There are also many outdoor areas where students can study.

“We found that millennials want a lot of green space to study,” Zimmer says. “In Tallahassee, the midrise and high-rise buildings don’t have much amenity space. That’s our advantage. We wanted to create a sense of space and community.”

Furthermore, Stadium Enclave is a gated community that is equipped with top-of-the-line security system. It features security cameras throughout the common areas of the facility and is monitored by an on-campus management team.

There are controlled-access vehicular and pedestrian gates, where only residents and their guests may enter. Each unit requires a key fob for entry, providing an extra layer of security. The campus management team will also notify students when they receive packages and to take care of maintenance requests.

The Partnership

Founded in 1989, Zimmer Development is a national commercial and multi-family developer that specializes in student housing. The full-service real estate development company has developed 2,345 student housing beds in fall of 2017, earning it a Top 15 spot on the Student Housing Business’ Most Active Student Housing Developers for development planned through 2020. ZDC ranked No. 13 on the list with 11 projects, totaling 5,039 beds in its pipeline.

Based in Wilmington, N.C., Zimmer Development credits its success on experience, hands-on management style and hard work. It has produced many distinctive real estate projects ranging from single tenant buildings to mixed-use town centers, as well as multi-family housing, including both student housing and conventional products.

Aside from Stadium Enclave, Zimmer Development recently completed The Alpine, a 432-bed community in Allendale, Mich. Both properties were slated for delivery this fall. Also, the company has plans to develop additional student housing communities. Zimmer Development currently maintains 12 student housing properties consisting of 4,130 beds in six states.

Huffman & Company, which served as the general contractor for Enclave Stadium, has been in business since 2011. The Little Rock, Ark.-based company specializes in large multi-million dollar projects for both the public and private sectors.

“We’ve worked with them in the past and love their work,” Zimmer says about Huffman & Company. “It’s a good relationship. They do whatever it takes to get the job done and they use first class materials.”

Huffman & Company is headed by Brandon Huffman, who has been at the helm since the company’s inception. Huffman and Company focuses on developing, building and managing student housing, multifamily and hotel projects in Arkansas and its nearby states.

According to its website, Huffman & Company’s leadership team is comprised of industry experts with diverse backgrounds in the construction, development and real estate markets. Service specific experience includes project management, estimates, investment management, site selection, construction management and property management.